The 2024 Varsity Cheer team has a total of 27 girls this seasons, it’s more than they have ever had before.
With the extra amount of girls it creates challenges along the way that the team has had to work through.
“A difficulty has been our uniforms, since our program has grown so much so has our team numbers and we’ve never held a team this big before. With that comes some challenges that we’ve faced this year of not having enough uniforms. We had to get creative with having the uniforms, meaning half the team wore the sideline uniforms and the other half wore the school’s competitive teams uniforms,” said senior Kiana Ruvolo.
The big team also creates a lot more voices that the coaches have to talk over. Many of the girls see practices as a time to practice as well as a time to be able to socialize with their teammates.
“We all love to talk and share our days with each other during practice and unfortunately sometimes it keeps us from being as productive as we could be,” said senior Addison Plough.
Not only do the voices of so many girls affect the coaches, but it affects the girls as well.
“A big team comes with lots of personalities and learning to communicate with so many people can be hard sometimes,” said senior Samantha Postema.
Even though a large number of girls can be seen as a bad thing, in many other ways it has been very beneficial for the team. The team has never been this big and since this is the first year it’s been so big it allows for the girls to learn new things.
“Every year our coaches challenge us with things like new cheers and stunts, which helps us to work together and strengthen our team. I love seeing all of the cool new things we can accomplish together and I’m so excited for the rest of the season,” said senior Savannah Grosshans.
The girls on the team are very happy with everyone on their team and are excited to be able to continue their season all together. The size of the team allows for the girls to make new friends, talk to people they might not normally talk to, and it creates a bond that they didn’t know they could have created until this year.
“The amount of girls this year is what keeps the team diverse and interesting. We are also showing how much our program has grown over the years, and showcasing a much louder and stronger team than ever before,” said Ruvolo.
